Laine Brehaut

Program Coordinator PEI Wild Child

The PEI Wild Child Program has a new Coordinator! Laine Brehaut volunteered with Hanna Hameline this past spring and fell in love with the program. She grew up in PEI and has always had a strong desire to protect our natural treasures and promote ecological balance. She has two small children of her own and after spending many years working in design fields she's eager to move away from the theoretical realm of eco-friendly architectural design into the literal fields and forests, helping small people discover the wonders inherent in our natural world.

Wild Child is all about learning the art of being in nature. We work to help the children deepen the understanding of the world they sense, and build up the knowledge of connection a little bit at a time. One of the most important components of the Wild Child program is getting children out into natural areas. Having children experience a new space is one of the easiest ways to get them engaged and excited. All of the games and activities are designed to get them to use their senses more fully, inhabit their bodies, use their imaginations, and ask questions.

There is magic in nature. As a small kid growing up in the PEI countryside I climbed trees, swam in streams, & watched the shadows of clouds race by on the hillsides in my valley. My earliest memories are of being fascinated by the tiny life all around me in overgrown meadows and the peace I felt sitting in the tall plants waving in the ever present summer breezes. I counted the tiny white moths, lady-bugs, and earthworms as my friends. I held countless little lives in my hands; toads, frogs, garter and northern redbelly snakes, and my all time favourite; spotted salamanders!